Namibia

There are few iconic images that beat the quiver tree or kokerboom, Aloe dichotoma, its stylised shape giving it a prehistoric appearance, especially when etched against the deep colours of a Namibian sunset.
Situated on the farm Gariganus, 23 kilometres north-east of Keetmanshoop, the Quiver Tree Forest is a worthwhile detour, especially for keen photographers. Here several hundred of these curious trees can be seen growing as a dense stand amongst the rocky outcrops that are so characteristic of the southern parts of Namibia. The stand was declared a national monument and fenced for tourist viewing some fifty years ago.
Reaching heights of up to seven metres, the quiver tree is one of four Namibian aloes that are classified as trees. One of these, the bastard quiver tree, Aloe pillansii, is sometimes confused with the kokerboom, the difference being that A. pillansii has a taller trunk with fewer, more erect branches and a sparse crown, and has a much more limited distribution, being confined to the areas just north and south of the Orange River. The quiver tree, on the other hand, grows fairly commonly along Namibia’s western escarpment from the Orange River northwards into Kaokoland.
In June and July quiver trees are covered in bright yellow flowers, attracting large numbers of birds and insects to their copious nectar. Baboons tear the flowers apart to get at the sweet substance, often stripping a tree of its blossoms soon after they have appeared. One of the quiver tree’s most attractive features is its bark, which is smooth, often with a pearly grey or golden sheen, sometimes flaking and cracked into diamond shapes, frequently folding like melting wax.
The Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, Simon van der Stel, recorded this fascinating and distinctive tree in 1685 where it grew in the northern Cape. He noticed that Bushmen fashioned quivers for their arrows from the soft branches, and it was this custom that gave rise to the tree’s common name.
www.namibiatravelcompanion.com/index.php/quiver-tree-forest/
— in Namibia.

Kolmanskop - a ghost town in Namibia.
This place is amazing and is a photographers dream! I will probably post way too many images. We shot for a total of 8 hours and I still didn't get to see it all. I will get back there one day to complete unfinished business - that is if it hasn't been consumed by sand in the meantime. :)
Kolmanskop is Namibia's most famous ghost town, and is situated in the Sperrgebiet, (forbidden territory) a few kilometers inland from the port of Luderitz. In 1908, the railway worker Zacharias Lewala found a sparkling stone amongst the sand he was shoveling away from the railway line, near Kolmanskop. His supervisor August Stauch, was convinced it was a diamond and when this was confirmed, the news spread like wildfire, sparking a huge, frantic diamond rush and causing fortune hunters to converge in droves on Kolmanskop.
The town soon developed, becoming a bustling little centre and providing shelter for workers from the harsh environment of the Namib Desert. Large, elegant houses were built and it soon resembled a German town, complete with an impressive array of amenities including; a hospital, ballroom, power station, school, 4-lane skittle alley, theatre and sports hall, casino, ice factory and the first x-ray station in the southern hemisphere. Fresh meat could be purchased at the butcher's, there was a bakery, furniture factory, a public playground and even a swimming pool! At the time, there was also a railway line to Luderitz.
The development of Kolmanskop reached its pinnacle in the 1920's, but the town declined after World War 1, when diamond prices crashed. At this time approximately 300 German adults, 40 children and 800 Owambo contract workers lived in the town. In spite of, or probably because of, the isolation and bleakness of the surrounding desert, Kolmanskop developed into a lively little haven of German culture, offering entertainment and recreation to suit the requirements of the affluent colonialists.
Unfortunately for Kolmanskop and it's inhabitants, richer diamond deposits were discovered further south, and operations were moved to Oranjemund. Within a span of 40 years Kolmanskop lived, flourished and died. Today the ghost town's crumbling ruins bear little resemblance to its former glory. The stately homes have been nearly demolished by the wind, and are gradually becoming enveloped by encroaching sand dunes. In 1980, the mining company De Beers, restored a number of buildings, and established and interesting museum, which has now become a tourist attraction.
Film buffs might be interested to know, that in 2000, the film, The King Is Alive, was filmed in Kolmanskop, with the town being utilized as the film's main setting. The town was also used as one of the locations in the 1993 film, Dust Devil.
www.namibian.org/travel/adventure/kolmanskop.html

Kolmanskop - a ghost town in Namibia.
This place is amazing and is a photographers dream! I will probably post way too many images. We shot for a total of 8 hours and I still didn't get to see it all. I will get back there one day to complete unfinished business - that is if it hasn't been consumed by sand in the meantime. :)
Kolmanskop is Namibia's most famous ghost town, and is situated in the Sperrgebiet, (forbidden territory) a few kilometers inland from the port of Luderitz. In 1908, the railway worker Zacharias Lewala found a sparkling stone amongst the sand he was shoveling away from the railway line, near Kolmanskop. His supervisor August Stauch, was convinced it was a diamond and when this was confirmed, the news spread like wildfire, sparking a huge, frantic diamond rush and causing fortune hunters to converge in droves on Kolmanskop.
The town soon developed, becoming a bustling little centre and providing shelter for workers from the harsh environment of the Namib Desert. Large, elegant houses were built and it soon resembled a German town, complete with an impressive array of amenities including; a hospital, ballroom, power station, school, 4-lane skittle alley, theatre and sports hall, casino, ice factory and the first x-ray station in the southern hemisphere. Fresh meat could be purchased at the butcher's, there was a bakery, furniture factory, a public playground and even a swimming pool! At the time, there was also a railway line to Luderitz.
The development of Kolmanskop reached its pinnacle in the 1920's, but the town declined after World War 1, when diamond prices crashed. At this time approximately 300 German adults, 40 children and 800 Owambo contract workers lived in the town. In spite of, or probably because of, the isolation and bleakness of the surrounding desert, Kolmanskop developed into a lively little haven of German culture, offering entertainment and recreation to suit the requirements of the affluent colonialists.
Unfortunately for Kolmanskop and it's inhabitants, richer diamond deposits were discovered further south, and operations were moved to Oranjemund. Within a span of 40 years Kolmanskop lived, flourished and died. Today the ghost town's crumbling ruins bear little resemblance to its former glory. The stately homes have been nearly demolished by the wind, and are gradually becoming enveloped by encroaching sand dunes. In 1980, the mining company De Beers, restored a number of buildings, and established and interesting museum, which has now become a tourist attraction.
Film buffs might be interested to know, that in 2000, the film, The King Is Alive, was filmed in Kolmanskop, with the town being utilized as the film's main setting. The town was also used as one of the locations in the 1993 film, Dust Devil.
www.namibian.org/travel/adventure/kolmanskop.html

The Spitzkoppe, is a group of bald granite peaks or bornhardts located between Usakos and Swakopmund in the Namib desert of Namibia. The granite is more than 700 million years old and the highest outcrop rises about 1784 meters above sea level. Wikipedia — in Namibia.

There are few iconic images that beat the quiver tree or kokerboom, Aloe dichotoma, its stylised shape giving it a prehistoric appearance, especially when etched against the deep colours of a Namibian sunset.
Situated on the farm Gariganus, 23 kilometres north-east of Keetmanshoop, the Quiver Tree Forest is a worthwhile detour, especially for keen photographers. Here several hundred of these curious trees can be seen growing as a dense stand amongst the rocky outcrops that are so characteristic of the southern parts of Namibia. The stand was declared a national monument and fenced for tourist viewing some fifty years ago.
Reaching heights of up to seven metres, the quiver tree is one of four Namibian aloes that are classified as trees. One of these, the bastard quiver tree, Aloe pillansii, is sometimes confused with the kokerboom, the difference being that A. pillansii has a taller trunk with fewer, more erect branches and a sparse crown, and has a much more limited distribution, being confined to the areas just north and south of the Orange River. The quiver tree, on the other hand, grows fairly commonly along Namibia’s western escarpment from the Orange River northwards into Kaokoland.
In June and July quiver trees are covered in bright yellow flowers, attracting large numbers of birds and insects to their copious nectar. Baboons tear the flowers apart to get at the sweet substance, often stripping a tree of its blossoms soon after they have appeared. One of the quiver tree’s most attractive features is its bark, which is smooth, often with a pearly grey or golden sheen, sometimes flaking and cracked into diamond shapes, frequently folding like melting wax.
The Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, Simon van der Stel, recorded this fascinating and distinctive tree in 1685 where it grew in the northern Cape. He noticed that Bushmen fashioned quivers for their arrows from the soft branches, and it was this custom that gave rise to the tree’s common name.
www.namibiatravelcompanion.com/index.php/quiver-tree-forest/
— in Namibia.

Kolmanskop - a ghost town in Namibia.
This place is amazing and is a photographers dream! I will probably post way too many images. We shot for a total of 8 hours and I still didn't get to see it all. I will get back there one day to complete unfinished business - that is if it hasn't been consumed by sand in the meantime. :)
Kolmanskop is Namibia's most famous ghost town, and is situated in the Sperrgebiet, (forbidden territory) a few kilometers inland from the port of Luderitz. In 1908, the railway worker Zacharias Lewala found a sparkling stone amongst the sand he was shoveling away from the railway line, near Kolmanskop. His supervisor August Stauch, was convinced it was a diamond and when this was confirmed, the news spread like wildfire, sparking a huge, frantic diamond rush and causing fortune hunters to converge in droves on Kolmanskop.
The town soon developed, becoming a bustling little centre and providing shelter for workers from the harsh environment of the Namib Desert. Large, elegant houses were built and it soon resembled a German town, complete with an impressive array of amenities including; a hospital, ballroom, power station, school, 4-lane skittle alley, theatre and sports hall, casino, ice factory and the first x-ray station in the southern hemisphere. Fresh meat could be purchased at the butcher's, there was a bakery, furniture factory, a public playground and even a swimming pool! At the time, there was also a railway line to Luderitz.
The development of Kolmanskop reached its pinnacle in the 1920's, but the town declined after World War 1, when diamond prices crashed. At this time approximately 300 German adults, 40 children and 800 Owambo contract workers lived in the town. In spite of, or probably because of, the isolation and bleakness of the surrounding desert, Kolmanskop developed into a lively little haven of German culture, offering entertainment and recreation to suit the requirements of the affluent colonialists.
Unfortunately for Kolmanskop and it's inhabitants, richer diamond deposits were discovered further south, and operations were moved to Oranjemund. Within a span of 40 years Kolmanskop lived, flourished and died. Today the ghost town's crumbling ruins bear little resemblance to its former glory. The stately homes have been nearly demolished by the wind, and are gradually becoming enveloped by encroaching sand dunes. In 1980, the mining company De Beers, restored a number of buildings, and established and interesting museum, which has now become a tourist attraction.
Film buffs might be interested to know, that in 2000, the film, The King Is Alive, was filmed in Kolmanskop, with the town being utilized as the film's main setting. The town was also used as one of the locations in the 1993 film, Dust Devil.
www.namibian.org/travel/adventure/kolmanskop.html

Kolmanskop - a ghost town in Namibia.
This place is amazing and is a photographers dream! I will probably post way too many images. We shot for a total of 8 hours and I still didn't get to see it all. I will get back there one day to complete unfinished business - that is if it hasn't been consumed by sand in the meantime. :)
Kolmanskop is Namibia's most famous ghost town, and is situated in the Sperrgebiet, (forbidden territory) a few kilometers inland from the port of Luderitz. In 1908, the railway worker Zacharias Lewala found a sparkling stone amongst the sand he was shoveling away from the railway line, near Kolmanskop. His supervisor August Stauch, was convinced it was a diamond and when this was confirmed, the news spread like wildfire, sparking a huge, frantic diamond rush and causing fortune hunters to converge in droves on Kolmanskop.
The town soon developed, becoming a bustling little centre and providing shelter for workers from the harsh environment of the Namib Desert. Large, elegant houses were built and it soon resembled a German town, complete with an impressive array of amenities including; a hospital, ballroom, power station, school, 4-lane skittle alley, theatre and sports hall, casino, ice factory and the first x-ray station in the southern hemisphere. Fresh meat could be purchased at the butcher's, there was a bakery, furniture factory, a public playground and even a swimming pool! At the time, there was also a railway line to Luderitz.
The development of Kolmanskop reached its pinnacle in the 1920's, but the town declined after World War 1, when diamond prices crashed. At this time approximately 300 German adults, 40 children and 800 Owambo contract workers lived in the town. In spite of, or probably because of, the isolation and bleakness of the surrounding desert, Kolmanskop developed into a lively little haven of German culture, offering entertainment and recreation to suit the requirements of the affluent colonialists.
Unfortunately for Kolmanskop and it's inhabitants, richer diamond deposits were discovered further south, and operations were moved to Oranjemund. Within a span of 40 years Kolmanskop lived, flourished and died. Today the ghost town's crumbling ruins bear little resemblance to its former glory. The stately homes have been nearly demolished by the wind, and are gradually becoming enveloped by encroaching sand dunes. In 1980, the mining company De Beers, restored a number of buildings, and established and interesting museum, which has now become a tourist attraction.
Film buffs might be interested to know, that in 2000, the film, The King Is Alive, was filmed in Kolmanskop, with the town being utilized as the film's main setting. The town was also used as one of the locations in the 1993 film, Dust Devil.
www.namibian.org/travel/adventure/kolmanskop.html

Kolmanskop - a ghost town in Namibia.
This place is amazing and is a photographers dream! I will probably post way too many images. We shot for a total of 8 hours and I still didn't get to see it all. I will get back there one day to complete unfinished business - that is if it hasn't been consumed by sand in the meantime. :)
Kolmanskop is Namibia's most famous ghost town, and is situated in the Sperrgebiet, (forbidden territory) a few kilometers inland from the port of Luderitz. In 1908, the railway worker Zacharias Lewala found a sparkling stone amongst the sand he was shoveling away from the railway line, near Kolmanskop. His supervisor August Stauch, was convinced it was a diamond and when this was confirmed, the news spread like wildfire, sparking a huge, frantic diamond rush and causing fortune hunters to converge in droves on Kolmanskop.
The town soon developed, becoming a bustling little centre and providing shelter for workers from the harsh environment of the Namib Desert. Large, elegant houses were built and it soon resembled a German town, complete with an impressive array of amenities including; a hospital, ballroom, power station, school, 4-lane skittle alley, theatre and sports hall, casino, ice factory and the first x-ray station in the southern hemisphere. Fresh meat could be purchased at the butcher's, there was a bakery, furniture factory, a public playground and even a swimming pool! At the time, there was also a railway line to Luderitz.
The development of Kolmanskop reached its pinnacle in the 1920's, but the town declined after World War 1, when diamond prices crashed. At this time approximately 300 German adults, 40 children and 800 Owambo contract workers lived in the town. In spite of, or probably because of, the isolation and bleakness of the surrounding desert, Kolmanskop developed into a lively little haven of German culture, offering entertainment and recreation to suit the requirements of the affluent colonialists.
Unfortunately for Kolmanskop and it's inhabitants, richer diamond deposits were discovered further south, and operations were moved to Oranjemund. Within a span of 40 years Kolmanskop lived, flourished and died. Today the ghost town's crumbling ruins bear little resemblance to its former glory. The stately homes have been nearly demolished by the wind, and are gradually becoming enveloped by encroaching sand dunes. In 1980, the mining company De Beers, restored a number of buildings, and established and interesting museum, which has now become a tourist attraction.
Film buffs might be interested to know, that in 2000, the film, The King Is Alive, was filmed in Kolmanskop, with the town being utilized as the film's main setting. The town was also used as one of the locations in the 1993 film, Dust Devil.
www.namibian.org/travel/adventure/kolmanskop.html

It is not known how long the Namib Desert Feral Horses have lived on an area covering approximately 350 square kilometres in the Namib Desert, but local speculate they have been there since 'German times'. As there are no written records about their provenance their origins remain unclear, but there are, of course, quite a few theories. One of the best places to view these horses is at Klein Aus Vista Lodge, the horses can also often be spotted grazing alongside the main road between Aus and Luderitz.
One plausible theory relates to the German occupation of South West Africa a large number of horses were needed for the cavalry and an eccentric German nobleman, Baron Hans-Heinrich von Wolf, set up a horse breeding station at his outlandish castle, Duwisib, on the edge of the desert. Once the Baron went off to the first world war in Europe nobody looked after the stable of more than 300 horses and after his death herds of them ran wild, roaming the veld around Duwisib until 1950. It is possible that some of them wandered the 150 kilometres south- westward to the water at Garub.
It is likely, too, that some of the feral horses originated from the Schutztruppe mounts, as well as from the those belonging to a South African Expeditionary Force that took control of the Lüderitz- Keetmanshoop line during the First World War. Another theory is that a ship carrying thoroughbreds from Europe to Australia that ran aground near the mouth of the Orange River. The strongest horses could have reached the shore and found their way to the Garub plains.
Under Namibia's South African occupation the Spergebiet (restricted diamond area) fell under the control of CDM a subsidiary of Anglo American Surprisingly the pumping station was maintained in good order by CDM, apparently aware of the existence of the horses. Through the 1970's to the 1980's, a CDM security officer took an active interest in the horses and made sure they always had water. He even obtained funds from his company to install modern water tanks at Garub.
In 1986 CDM handed over the northern part of the Sperrgebiet to the Directorate of Nature Conservation, so the authorities responsible for the Namib-Naukluft Park have now taken over the care of the horses. They replaced the old water point at Garub with new solar panel installations, and in 1991 conducted the first aerial count of the horses, which showed that the population comprised 276 individuals, probably the largest it had ever been A year later southern Africa was devastated by the most severe drought of this century and 30 to 40 of the horses died. In June 1992 the Ministry of Wildlife, Conservation and Tourism launched an operation to save the grazing and to ensure a viable breeding nucleus. They ensure a viable breeding nucleus. They caught 104 horses and sold them to the public, and fed the remaining animals, about 80, until it rained again, in March 1993. At present the numbers are slowly increasing and stand at about 150.
The conservation of the feral horses in the Namib-Naukluft Park has aroused controversy. Some people argue that the horses are of historical and scientific value and that they should not be removed. Many others think that the horses, as non-native species, compete with the indigenous wildlife (mainly gemsbok, springbok and ostriches) for the sparse vegetation. In fact, there is little or no evidence of competition between the horses and the game animals, and the former occasionally graze within a few metres of gemsbok and springbok without any apparent interaction. Gemsbok move away from the waterhole when horses approach and vice versa, but sometimes both species drink at the same time. Being relatively independent of water, the indigenous wildlife range over far greater territories than the horses do, so the presence of the latter has probably no significant bearing on the numbers of game in the park.
The Namib feral horses are unique in the sense that they have been isolated for a number of generations. Their hardiness in the face of extremely harsh climatic conditions is extraordinary, as is the fact that they have been able to circumvent the vital problem of food and water availability by adapting their behaviour and their allocation of time. For these reasons, if for no other, they deserve our wonder and admiration.
www.namibian.org/travel/namibia/feralhorses.html

Taken at Kolmanskop in Namibia. I didn't realize it at the time of shooting but I seemed to have a bit of a fascination with the doors and windows in this ghost town.. for some reason they attracted me more so than inside the actual sand filled rooms. Perhaps it's because I was trying to find something a little out of the ordinary from everyone else's taken on this very special and amazing place.
ps I have had friends ask what it is that is in front of the door - it's a piece of corrugated iron :)

I could not have done this image without Marsel van Oosten's help. He guided me through the composition as well as teaching me how to create star trails AND he helped me put it all together. Thank you Marsel :)

There are few iconic images that beat the quiver tree or kokerboom, Aloe dichotoma, its stylised shape giving it a prehistoric appearance, especially when etched against the deep colours of a Namibian sunset.
Situated on the farm Gariganus, 23 kilometres north-east of Keetmanshoop, the Quiver Tree Forest is a worthwhile detour, especially for keen photographers. Here several hundred of these curious trees can be seen growing as a dense stand amongst the rocky outcrops that are so characteristic of the southern parts of Namibia. The stand was declared a national monument and fenced for tourist viewing some fifty years ago.
Reaching heights of up to seven metres, the quiver tree is one of four Namibian aloes that are classified as trees. One of these, the bastard quiver tree, Aloe pillansii, is sometimes confused with the kokerboom, the difference being that A. pillansii has a taller trunk with fewer, more erect branches and a sparse crown, and has a much more limited distribution, being confined to the areas just north and south of the Orange River. The quiver tree, on the other hand, grows fairly commonly along Namibia’s western escarpment from the Orange River northwards into Kaokoland.
In June and July quiver trees are covered in bright yellow flowers, attracting large numbers of birds and insects to their copious nectar. Baboons tear the flowers apart to get at the sweet substance, often stripping a tree of its blossoms soon after they have appeared. One of the quiver tree’s most attractive features is its bark, which is smooth, often with a pearly grey or golden sheen, sometimes flaking and cracked into diamond shapes, frequently folding like melting wax.
The Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, Simon van der Stel, recorded this fascinating and distinctive tree in 1685 where it grew in the northern Cape. He noticed that Bushmen fashioned quivers for their arrows from the soft branches, and it was this custom that gave rise to the tree’s common name.
www.namibiatravelcompanion.com/index.php/quiver-tree-forest/
— in Namibia.

Kolmanskop - a ghost town in Namibia.
This place is amazing and is a photographers dream! I will probably post way too many images. We shot for a total of 8 hours and I still didn't get to see it all. I will get back there one day to complete unfinished business - that is if it hasn't been consumed by sand in the meantime. :)
Kolmanskop is Namibia's most famous ghost town, and is situated in the Sperrgebiet, (forbidden territory) a few kilometers inland from the port of Luderitz. In 1908, the railway worker Zacharias Lewala found a sparkling stone amongst the sand he was shoveling away from the railway line, near Kolmanskop. His supervisor August Stauch, was convinced it was a diamond and when this was confirmed, the news spread like wildfire, sparking a huge, frantic diamond rush and causing fortune hunters to converge in droves on Kolmanskop.
The town soon developed, becoming a bustling little centre and providing shelter for workers from the harsh environment of the Namib Desert. Large, elegant houses were built and it soon resembled a German town, complete with an impressive array of amenities including; a hospital, ballroom, power station, school, 4-lane skittle alley, theatre and sports hall, casino, ice factory and the first x-ray station in the southern hemisphere. Fresh meat could be purchased at the butcher's, there was a bakery, furniture factory, a public playground and even a swimming pool! At the time, there was also a railway line to Luderitz.
The development of Kolmanskop reached its pinnacle in the 1920's, but the town declined after World War 1, when diamond prices crashed. At this time approximately 300 German adults, 40 children and 800 Owambo contract workers lived in the town. In spite of, or probably because of, the isolation and bleakness of the surrounding desert, Kolmanskop developed into a lively little haven of German culture, offering entertainment and recreation to suit the requirements of the affluent colonialists.
Unfortunately for Kolmanskop and it's inhabitants, richer diamond deposits were discovered further south, and operations were moved to Oranjemund. Within a span of 40 years Kolmanskop lived, flourished and died. Today the ghost town's crumbling ruins bear little resemblance to its former glory. The stately homes have been nearly demolished by the wind, and are gradually becoming enveloped by encroaching sand dunes. In 1980, the mining company De Beers, restored a number of buildings, and established and interesting museum, which has now become a tourist attraction.
Film buffs might be interested to know, that in 2000, the film, The King Is Alive, was filmed in Kolmanskop, with the town being utilized as the film's main setting. The town was also used as one of the locations in the 1993 film, Dust Devil.
www.namibian.org/travel/adventure/kolmanskop.html

NB 05 Namibian Skies

I could not have done this image without Marsel van Oosten's help. He guided me through the composition as well as teaching me how to create star trails AND he helped me put it all together. Thank you Marsel :)